Sermon - Matthew 6:25-34 - Don't Worry - March 22, 2020

Anxiety, worry, concern, restlessness, tension, nervousness, panic, are things that all of us deal with from time to time and at a higher rate with all that is going on today. Stress is the root of this and we all have the common job, house, retirement, bills, medical, school type of stressors but the uncertainty of everything going on with Covid-19 adds a whole new level to it.

Stress is not our friend or even an acquaintance that we want to spend time with. Most of the anxiety, stress, worry, tension, panic, etc… that we are hit with is because we are trying to control something that is outside of our ability to control. We cannot control the economy, but we worry about the impact it is has on our finances or our retirement income. We cannot control the future, we cannot control who is going to get sick, we cannot control a lot of things, but we worry about them more than we would like to admit.

We cannot control what tomorrow will bring, what will happen next week, next month, or next year, but we do worry about it.

Jesus spent some time talking about worry during His Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:25

“²⁵ “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

Don’t worry! Those are the words of Jesus, don’t worry! Worrying does us no good. If it is something we can change, then we should change it and move on… No need to worry if it is within our control. If it is something that is outside of our control, if we can have no impact on the outcome, then worrying about it does us no good.  

Jesus is telling us that life is more than the food and clothing we need. It is really more important that any of the ‘things’ we want, or struggle with, in this life.

Jesus is telling us that while we need some of these things, some of them we want, they are not worth the anxiety or stress we tend to let them cause.

Our Savior is telling us that our life is so much more important and infinitely more valuable than the things of this world that will not last.

Much of our worry, anxiety, and stress come from things that are temporary.

What is the first day of school or work going to be like… Temporary.

What will the rest of this school look like… Temporary.

Is my boss going to like the report I submitted… Temporary.

How are we going to pay off that bill… Temporary.

How long are we going to have to be in isolation… Temporary.

These are real things that all of us are going to deal with at one point in time or another, but they are temporary. Everything on this side of Glory is temporary. If it is temporary, Jesus would tell us ‘Don’t worry’.

Matthew 6:26

“²⁶ Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?”

Anxiety, worry, and stress are not natural. God did not create us so that we can worry about stuff, but we do. As best as I can tell the only part of all of creation that worries about things, are humans. The birds are not worried if they will have enough food to eat or if they will find enough twigs to build a nest. They simply go about their day doing what they were created to do. We worry about pretty much everything. We may try to do what we were created to do, but if we forget something, feel like we are missing something, or think we don’t measure up, we start worrying about it.

Worry is not part of God’s original creation; it is part of the fallen world we live in. As followers of Christ we need to put our trust in our Lord and Savior and let the worry go. Yes, I know it is much easier said than done. Just so you know this is another one of those times that I am preaching to myself just as much, if not more, than I am to you.

This is one of my struggles, so when I say when we are stressing about things we are not trusting in our God, it hits me like a load of bricks. When I say we tend to let our anxiety and stress get the best of us, which means we are not putting our faith where it belongs, I am as guilty as the next person.

Psalms 55:22

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”

We were created to be in a relationship with the Creator, to trust in our God, to be sustained by Him, anything that gets in the way of this is not what God wants for us. The worry, stress, and anxiety we let creep in, is not part of God’s plan for us.

Matthew 6:27

“²⁷ Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?”

I am sure we have all heard this before but worrying about something does not help the situation. When we stress about something, the stress does not help us find the solution. In many cases it has the opposite effect.  

Worrying is like riding an exercise bike. There is a lot of activity, energy is spent, legs are moving, sweat is dripping, but we are getting absolutely nowhere fast. When we worry about something, it does not change the problem, it does not bring us closer to a solution, instead it simply makes us miserable.

Worrying about the results of the test the Dr. ordered will not change the result. Worrying about if you are going to get the job you applied for, will not help you get it. Stressing about if you are going to catch the latest virus will only drive you crazy.

Worrying will not change the result.

Matthew 6:28-30

“²⁸ And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. ³⁰ If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith?”

We were not created to worry. We were created to have Faith in our Lord.

Philippians 4:19

“And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Paul wrote this in direct response to how the Philippians supported him, but I want to point something out. This verse tells us that our God, the Creator of all things, will supply everything that we need. A gift He freely gives out of the abundance of love that He has for us. Our Lord owns cattle on a thousand hills, there is not limit to His Love for us and no limit to His riches.

Worry does us no good. One of the reasons it impacts us as badly as it does, is because we were not created to worry. That ulcer was not part of God’s plan, that was caused by the stress found in this fallen world. The same can be said for the high blood pressure, stiff neck, or however stress impacts you personally. That is not what Jesus wants for us.

Again, I know this is easier said than done. A lot of people are worried about what is happening to our economy or worried about getting Covid-19. If we are honest with ourselves, there is truly nothing we can do about it. The stock market is what it is, we have no control over it, we cannot change it. Covid-19 is spreading and the chances of a lot of people getting it is high, but so are the chances that most who get it will be ok. From a practical standpoint I encourage you to be safe and protect yourself the best you can, but beyond that remember that Jesus said, ‘Don’t Worry.’

The question we are left with is ‘how are we supposed to stop worrying?’

Philippians 4:6

“⁶ Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

If you are like me, you have told yourself to stop worrying about this or that, but it did not help. We can try to give ourselves reminders and use every ounce of will power we have to try and stop worrying, but we cannot do it on our own.

We cannot ‘will’ ourselves to a stress-free existence.

Matthew 6:31-32

“³¹ So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”

The key words here are ‘your heavenly Father’… it is not about what we can control, it is about being part of the family of God. We are told in John 1, and several other places in Scripture, that if we have confessed Jesus as our Savior that we are God’s child. As a child of God, He will take care of us. We really should have nothing to worry about as our Father knows exactly what we need.

Matthew 6:33

“³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”

What we really need to do is to keep God front and center of every area of our lives. We cannot keep bits and pieces of our lives away from God. We cannot wait until the problem is bad before we go to God, we need to keep Him as our focal point with every step, every choice, of every part of our lives.  

I know the words are easy to say and I know I make it sound simple. But I also know that many of us start our days out with the intention of not worrying about anything. The problem is life gets the better of us, and before we realize it our focus is on our problem, not our Lord. When that happens worry can take over.

One thing that I find that helps is to make sure I am faithfully setting time aside to pray. I read Philippians 4:6 earlier and it tells us to present our requests to God. Any concerns we have, any frustrations we are dealing with, anything that is getting the best of us, anything that is pulling our focus off of Jesus should be presented to our God.

Prayer is our conduit to God. Our Prayer time does not have to be the first 20 minutes and last 10 minutes of each day kneeling beside the bed. It is meant to be something that helps us stay in contact with our Lord, just like our cell phones help us stay in contact with our family and friends. Most of us are on the phone, talking, emailing, texting, using snapchat, facebook, or who knows what else to communicate with others almost all hours of the day. It is one of the conduits we use to connect with people throughout the day.

Prayer is our conduit to connect with our God and it is not limited to once or twice a day. Prayer is our way of chatting with our God to keep Him updated on what we are struggling with. Do we have a choice to make, feeling overwhelmed by things we cannot control, fear creeping in that someone we know is sick, or stressing over how low the stock market has dropped? If we only touch base with God once a day it is easy to get distracted, but if we spend time talking to Him all day long, bringing our requests to Him, it is easier to keep our focus where it belongs, on Jesus.

Matthew 6:34

“³⁴ Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

If we are worrying about what tomorrow will bring, we won’t be able to enjoy today. When our focus is always on the future it will be overwhelming, and the stress and anxiety will keep us from enjoying the blessings that are right in front of us today.

Jesus is not telling us to not prepare for the future, we are told to be good stewards and that includes being prepared for the rainy day, but there is a difference between preparing and worrying. Saving for the future is preparing, obsessing over the stock market is stressing.

1 Peter 5:6-7

“⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.”

How do reduce our stress and limit our worrying?   

We need to use our conduit, our avenue of communication, and talk to our Lord all the time. Trust that when He says He is with you always, He means it. The Lord will never leave you or forsake you.

I pray Philippians 4:7 over you.

Philippians 4:7

“⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Present your request to God and let His Peace fill you.

God Bless,

Robert